We have all failed the ganja industry

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The regulated cannabis industry in Jamaica is a failed industry in terms of where we are today, but it can still be rescued and executed as an inclusionary income-generating enterprise for thousands of Jamaicans with a new approach.

This position that the local cannabis industry is a failed experiment for the most part was taken by stakeholders in the industry more than a month ago at a ganja industry review consultation which actually took place in April 2020, and our position has nothing to do with the departure of some major Canadian companies from the Jamaica cannabis space.

The previous administration, which ushered in the legislation in 2015, did not have the vision to see the industry as a ‘ground up’ industry and placed the industry in the wrong direction and on the wrong footing from the very outset in 2015.

The present administration, not sharing a vision for a ‘ground up’ industry either, cemented the industry as a prohibitive and restrictive one with its draconian- type relegations.

The Cannabis Licensing Authority, also, it seems, is there to enforce the unworkable, restrictive, bureaucratic, and draconian regulations.

We have also failed in our advocacy to have the industry more inclusionary and accessible to small and traditional farmers as the major plank of the industry.

We are not in a blame game, but the facts are that the present Government, in particular the parliamentary Opposition and, indeed, the Parliament, must all take responsibility for continuing the industry in this over-regulated and draconian manner, which is stifling the very essence of a local ganja industry; for the many missed timelines for the export licences; and the failed implementation of the alternative-development programme, which was designed to fast-track smaller farmers into the industry.

We have all failed.

THE GANJA GROWERS AND

PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION